ROCK MUSIC THEORY: WINGER VS. FOO FIGHTERS
**So Today as I was listening to XM radio's 80's On 8, I was treated to the WINGER power ballad from the Summer of 1989, "Headed for a Heartbreak".. As I listened to this gem and reminiced about the simpler days, there was something about the song that sounded ALL too familiar, as if I had heard it before very recently..
Then it occurred to me that the safe-manufactured rock of the WINGER song sounded eerily familiar to the FOO FIGHTERS' recent rock radio hit, "Long Road To Ruin"..
This discovery made me do some further analysis regarding the parallels between FOO FIGHTERS frontman DAVE GROHL and KIP WINGER.. I began to think about the image factor presented by MR. GROHL is similar to that painted by KIP WINGER during the "not too cool" STUART kid from "Beavis and Butthead"'s favorite band.. All it would seem MR. GROHL needs is a perm..
Both WINGER and the FOO FIGHTERS are image bands, with the FOO FIGHTERS relying heavily on DAVE GROHL's connection to KURT COBAIN's corpse, while WINGER relied heavily on the corpse on the dying genre of the power ballad, which by 1989 was beginning to fade out (only to be ressurected in 1991 for a brief moment by EXTREME's "More than Words").. WINGER rode on the coattails of bands like POISON, CINDERLLA, and MOTLEY CRUE to carve out a couple of top 10 hits in 1989 and 1990 with "Seventeen" and "Miles Away".. The band was fronted by egocentric frontman, KIP WINGER.. A man who posed on the cover of all of the big rock music magazines like PARADE and CIRCUS like some wannabe sex symbol who exemplified "all that was wrong with rock" during that era... WINGER faded out into obscurity by 1991 which is where the similarities to the FOO FIGHTERS end..
THE FOO's debut album broke during the summer of 1995 with DAVE GROHL, like COURTNEY LOVE, cashing in on NIRVANA, while KRIST NOVOSELIC formed a couple of minor bands then faded into obscurity (but later ran for political office).. THE FOO FIGHTERS delivered a more commercial, polished sound than that of NIRVANA this was apparent from the first single "This is a Call" and their self-titled debut album (maybe with the exception of "I'll Stick Around").. THE FOO FIGHTERS have rode the wave for over 10 years with DAVE GROHL in the spotlight and at the helm.. GROHL has appeared on the cover of countless music magazines posing for the cameras similar to KIP WINGER.. In a recent picture, it looks as though all MR. GROHL needs is a perm and he will be the spitting image of MR. WINGER.. Safely to say though, THE FOO FIGHTERS (largely because of NIRVANA and Clear Channel) will be around for years to come and whose career has effectivly outlasted WINGER by about 10 times, there is still a similarity that cannot be ignored.. Take a look at the Vids and take a listen to WINGER's "Headed for a Heartbreak" and THE FOO FIGHTERS' "Long Road to Ruin"..
DAVE GROHL OF THE FOO FIGHTERS
KIP WINGER OF the band, WINGER
FOO FIGHTERS - "Long Road to Ruin"
WINGER - "Headed for a Heartbreak"
PEACE!
Then it occurred to me that the safe-manufactured rock of the WINGER song sounded eerily familiar to the FOO FIGHTERS' recent rock radio hit, "Long Road To Ruin"..
This discovery made me do some further analysis regarding the parallels between FOO FIGHTERS frontman DAVE GROHL and KIP WINGER.. I began to think about the image factor presented by MR. GROHL is similar to that painted by KIP WINGER during the "not too cool" STUART kid from "Beavis and Butthead"'s favorite band.. All it would seem MR. GROHL needs is a perm..
Both WINGER and the FOO FIGHTERS are image bands, with the FOO FIGHTERS relying heavily on DAVE GROHL's connection to KURT COBAIN's corpse, while WINGER relied heavily on the corpse on the dying genre of the power ballad, which by 1989 was beginning to fade out (only to be ressurected in 1991 for a brief moment by EXTREME's "More than Words").. WINGER rode on the coattails of bands like POISON, CINDERLLA, and MOTLEY CRUE to carve out a couple of top 10 hits in 1989 and 1990 with "Seventeen" and "Miles Away".. The band was fronted by egocentric frontman, KIP WINGER.. A man who posed on the cover of all of the big rock music magazines like PARADE and CIRCUS like some wannabe sex symbol who exemplified "all that was wrong with rock" during that era... WINGER faded out into obscurity by 1991 which is where the similarities to the FOO FIGHTERS end..
THE FOO's debut album broke during the summer of 1995 with DAVE GROHL, like COURTNEY LOVE, cashing in on NIRVANA, while KRIST NOVOSELIC formed a couple of minor bands then faded into obscurity (but later ran for political office).. THE FOO FIGHTERS delivered a more commercial, polished sound than that of NIRVANA this was apparent from the first single "This is a Call" and their self-titled debut album (maybe with the exception of "I'll Stick Around").. THE FOO FIGHTERS have rode the wave for over 10 years with DAVE GROHL in the spotlight and at the helm.. GROHL has appeared on the cover of countless music magazines posing for the cameras similar to KIP WINGER.. In a recent picture, it looks as though all MR. GROHL needs is a perm and he will be the spitting image of MR. WINGER.. Safely to say though, THE FOO FIGHTERS (largely because of NIRVANA and Clear Channel) will be around for years to come and whose career has effectivly outlasted WINGER by about 10 times, there is still a similarity that cannot be ignored.. Take a look at the Vids and take a listen to WINGER's "Headed for a Heartbreak" and THE FOO FIGHTERS' "Long Road to Ruin"..
DAVE GROHL OF THE FOO FIGHTERS
KIP WINGER OF the band, WINGER
FOO FIGHTERS - "Long Road to Ruin"
Click to viewWINGER - "Headed for a Heartbreak"
PEACE!